Teenage Dream
by PoppyU
Summary: Whilst James seems to be not getting the success he would like with one particular girl, Sirius is living every teenage boy's dream. A James/Lily story, with a bit of Sirius/OC..or OC's really..Rated M for some explicit referances/implications, and occasional language.
1. Chapter 1

Sirius Black yawned as he awoke the morning after the Quidditch cup final. Gryffindor won – obviously, and there had been a legendary party in the common room last night. Sirius rolled over, and froze as he hit another body in the bed. He glanced over, and saw an immensely pretty girl lying next to him, with a perfect body and long, wavy dark hair – and he had no idea who she was. He slowly started to sit up, hardly daring to move in an attempt not to wake her, but failed. She moaned quietly and opened her eyes.

"Sirius? Is that you?" She murmured softly, squinting slightly at the light pouring through the window.

"Alright?" He asked, only slightly sheepishly, as he plastered a sloppy grin on his face.

"I've been better.." She looked up at him, a guilty smile creeping onto her lips. "Last night was..fun."

"I get told that a lot." Sirius shot her a cheeky smirk, then took the opportunity to look around the room. They were occupying the only bed in the room – obviously he had pulled the Head Girl. She was a Ravenclaw, Sirius knew that, but as he had paid no interest whatsoever to the prefects or Head students, he had no idea what her name was.

"So..I should probably get going.." Sirius said slightly awkwardly, standing up and starting to pick up his clothes from a crumpled heap on her floor.

"Wait, you're leaving?" She blinked at him, sitting up, pulling up the bed sheet up to cover her chest.

"Well, I can't exactly stay here forever," He said dryly, looking at her curiously.

"I know, but..everyone will be getting up now, the Common Room will be really busy! You may as well wait up here to let the rush of people die down." She said nervously, eyeing his body obviously then stared at him, her bright blue eyes seeming to see right through him.

Sirius failed to see the logic in this – as it was a Sunday, the Common Room would most likely be full all day, but he shrugged and sat back down on the bed. "As you wish."

There was an awkward pause, before she asked "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Sirius groaned inwardly. Not talking. If they talked, it would only be more likely that at some point in the conversation he would be expected to know who she was. "Um..Quidditch?" He suggested lamely.

She laughed loudly, then lightly rested a hand on his shoulder flirtatiously. "Is that all you can ever talk about? You and James bloody Potter, Quidditch this, Quidditch that!"

He grinned. "Well, that's what makes us such the two most popular, good looking and down-right amazing boys in Hogwarts."

She laughed again, leaning closer to him. "Well, I know better than to argue with that," She said softly, staring at his lips and running her hand down to rest on his muscular chest.

Sirius watched her with amusement, and quickly decided it was much easier to go along with whatever she wanted, and not to mention more enjoyable for him. After all, no one could argue that she wasn't fit, and James would be ridiculously jealous once he told him that he had slept with the Head Girl. She was immensely pretty, a year older than him, and she was definitely interested in him. If he wanted, this could be more than a one night stand. But Sirius was not thinking of that happening.

He leant forward in a passionate kiss, and she responded to him almost instantly, pushing her hands against his chest and moaning softly. They made out for a good few minutes, but then Sirius pulled away and she looked up at him questioningly.

"I..I really should get going.."

But she leant forward and kissed him again, pushing him backwards with her body, and he obliged as any reasonable thoughts left his mind.

* * *

An hour later, Sirius left her room with a grin plastered onto his face. He descended the stairs into the common room, with his usual strut, and casually walked amongst the comfy chairs dotted around the common room with his head held high, whistling as he went. As soon as they caught sight of him, the whispers started.

"Sirius Black?"

"Who was he with last night?"

"He's so dreamy.."

"I heard he had a thing with Amy Richards.."

Well, this can only do my reputation good, he thought as he left the room full of gossiping Ravenclaw's.

* * *

"Oi, Padfoot!"

Sirius whipped around at the sound of his best mate's voice echoing through the entrance hall. He grinned and waited for James Potter to catch up, who was closely followed by their roommates Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew – together known as the Marauders. It was well past noon now, and the last of the late risers were heading into the Great Hall to get food.

"Where the hell did you end up last night?" He exclaimed, clapping his friend around the back as they continued into the Great Hall. "One minute you were snogging Amy Richards - who had just come downstairs with Adam Kirke by the way, God knows where her mouth had just been - and the next thing I know you were running off with possibly the fittest bird Hogwarts has ever seen. Did 'ya get lucky?"

"Yup! Pulled the Head Girl." Sirius said, acting as laid back as he possibly could. "She was all over me."

"What?!" Peter exclaimed, looking at his friend with an expression of almost awe. "The Head Girl?"

"Stacey Taylor? You pulled Stacey Taylor?" Asked James in disbelief, staring at his friend, gobsmacked.

"Well, I have no clue what her name is, but yes, if Stacey Taylor is the Head Girl, then I pulled her." Sirius said smugly.

"Stacey Taylor is the Head Girl alright." said Remus, looking at his friend in a half stern, but half impressed manner, although trying to hide it. "She always leads the prefect meetings, Callum Diggory can't take his eyes off her the whole-"

"No way!" James interrupted, shaking his head at Sirius. "There's no way you pulled Stacey Taylor."

"I did too! Just because she turned you down last year doesn't mean she's not interested in a more experienced, and better looking man." Sirius retorted, as he threw himself down onto the Gryffindor table next to Peter, immediately helping himself to his usual large plate of food.

"Fuck off - like Hell you did. You probably spent the night with some fat Slytherin, and are just too ashamed to admit it." James replied, sitting down opposite him with Remus.

Just at that moment, Sirius saw Stacey enter the Great Hall with the other Ravenclaw Seventh year girls. She was giggling and obviously telling them something that interested them greatly – they were hanging onto her every word. As they sat down on the Ravenclaw table behind James, Sirius caught her eye, and she waved over at him, blushing hugely. Sirius waved back, a smirk on his face.

Seeing his friend waving, James immediately spun around and followed his line of sight. Seeing the Head Girl giggling and waving at Sirius, he turned back to face his friend, shaking his head in almost comical disbelief.

"You're just jealous Prongs mate – because I have so much more success with the ladies than you ever will," Sirius said, feeling rather pleased with himself.

James scowled almost playfully, but carried on eating his food. Just then, Lily Evans walked into the Great Hall with her fellow Gryffindor sixth year Amy Richards. The two of them were best friends, but the expression 'opposites attract' would definitely apply to them. Lily was a dainty, pretty girl with vibrant red hair and large green eyes, and was hard working and had many-a-time been called a goody-two-shoes, although after it had been said they were often met with a snarky retort and a scowl. Amy, on the other hand, was a tall, slender but curvy girl with wavy brown hair and chocolatey eyes. She wasn't overly concerned with her academics, and had many-a-time been call a slut, although after it had been said they were often met with a slap in the face and a scowl. Let's put it this way – Lily was a definite Taylor Swift fan, whereas Amy was more of a Britney girl. However, the two of them had instantly liked each other in First year, and had been best friends ever since.

"Right on cue." Sirius gestured up at the two girls with his fork with a smirk.

"Evans. Aim." James nodded at the girls as they sat down beside them, ignoring his best friend. "How's the head?" He asked Amy, grinning.

"Awful." She groaned, taking a sip of pumpkin juice and resting her forehead in her hand. "I can't remember a single thing from last night after we got in to the Common Room."

"That may be a good thing," said Remus dryly.

"That bad?" she asked, exasperated.

"Well, not quite as bad as the time you shagged that Slytherin who looked like a troll.." Sirius remarked.

"Or that Hufflepuff in fifth year, when you forgot to lock the door of the dormitory and I walked in on you" Lily shuddered at the memory.

"We'd only just got there! It's not like we were naked or anything.." Amy protested.

"But it was pretty bad," James said, faking seriousness, looking at Peter for support. He nodded, "You may not want to know.."

"Just spit it out." She grumbled, helping herself to some sausages.

"You were upstairs with Adam Kirke for about an hour" Sirius said with mock sincerity.

"Eesh" She shuddered, nibbling at her sausage.

"But that's not the worst." James shook his head.

"Oh no." Remus agreed.

"We happened to witness a shocking event." Peter added, sneaking a look over at James.

Lily giggled and rolled her eyes, grabbing a few pieces of toast, knowing exactly what was coming.

James leaned forward to talk Amy. "I hate to break this to you, but as decent citizens, we really have no choice. We saw you, having a cheeky snog with our dear friend Sirius here in the Common Room last night."

Amy rolled her eyes, being well used to the ways of the Marauders by now. "Hilarious."

Sirius kicked James under the table. "Sod off. Probably the best snog she's had in a while."

"She can't remember it Padfoot. If it wasn't memorable, it obviously wasn't good."

" 'She' is right here!" Amy exclaimed.

"If you two can't decide on whether you're good at snogging or not, then maybe you should snog each other." Lily chipped in dryly, highly amused by the whole exchange.

"Or maybe Evans, you could give us a quick snog and tell us what you think..No need to snog Sirius, you already know he's an idiot."

"You wish Potter." Lily stood up. "Come on, Aim. I've gotta go finish my Charms essay."

"Charms? What Charms essay? It's too early for homework Lily.." Amy moaned but stood up anyway.

Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her after her. "See you boys."

"See you around, Evans," James said as the others all murmured goodbye's.

"Subtle, Prongs," Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his friend.

"What?" James asked obnoxiously, ripping into his food with a passion.

"No matter how many times you ask her out mate, the answers still the same." Remus pointed out, slightly warily, taking out his potions text book and flipping through it nonchalantly.

James scowled at him, but said fairly lightly, "I didn't ask her out, mate. Obviously we all know its only a matter of time before she realises how utterly dashing I am, and she comes running to me begging."

"Whatever you say.." Sirius muttered, picking up his bag and standing up. "You coming?"

James nodded, and the three stood up to follow Sirius out of the Great Hall.

* * *

**A/N **Well, that was fun! That was my first ever story, so I would really appreciate a review or something letting me know what you think, I've never had the confidence to start writing before now.

This was just a little something I started writing randomly. I didn't plan to write it, it just sort of came out. Truth be told, I think I was just getting so infuriated by the lack of an update by Jewels5 for TLAT (If you haven't read it, go read it. Now.) that I just needed to get some more of the Marauders! I obviously can never hope to live up to what she's achieved.

I really have no idea what to do with this next, I mean, do you think this should be left alone as it is? Or continued? Please let me know!

I love you all,

Poppy x


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of that Sunday was spent, at least by the sixth year Gryffindors, as Sunday's often are by teenagers all over the country - the majority of it was spent playing exploding snap and lazing around by the fire. However, none of them were always entirely too keen to play this game, as playing with the Marauder's often meant a certain loss of the game, and the most probable loss of a few sickles. However, they were all still on a high from winning the Quidditch cup the previous night and so were relatively enthusiastic about the game.

"Two sickles says you won't win a single game against me Moony!"

"You're on Prongs. I saw you playing Sirius earlier, he was pretty close to beating you."

"Yeah, I can't say you looked too great there Prongs. Maybe today will be my day.." Sirius added smugly, cracking open some peppermint toads.

James snorted. "Yeah, right. Obviously that was just a tactic to catch him off guard. If one chooses to lose, they lose everything."

Remus looked bewildered. "Prongs, that doesn't even make sense.."

James clapped Remus around his back, ignoring his statement. "You have a lot more to learn before you have a chance of even coming close to my standard, boys. But hey, game on." They settled down into their usual comfy armchairs and began to play.

However much they bantered about who thought they were going to win, they all knew what the outcome would be. No one could ever beat James or Sirius, but when the two of them played - although a very exciting game for an onlooker, due to the excessive amount of attempts to distract the other in the most creative way they could think of – James always came out on top. It was often said during the game that Sirius was 'playing extremely well' and that he 'may just have him this time', but James always managed to slip back ahead, usually in the moments Sirius was least expecting.

Lily, Peter and Remus were fairly evenly matched, but Lily would generally beat Remus, and Remus would beat Peter most of the time. Adam, Amy, Maddie and Paisley - the other two sixth year girls in their house - were each as awful as any of the others, and so, if a match was ever played between them, the outcome would vary massively.

As exploding snap was a regular Sunday afternoon activity for the sixth years, they had a typical structure worked out. Adam, Amy, Maddie and Paisley would play one or two matches between themselves, and Lily, Remus, and Peter would all play each other to decide the best two on that particular Sunday. Whilst the others were starting the tournament, James and Sirius would have a quick 'warm up' round, and then each play one of either Remus, Lily, or Peter in the semi-final rounds.

Once it had been decided that James and Sirius would play in the final, they would stop for a quick Butterbeer and a slab of Honeydukes' finest. During this period, it was common for James and Sirius to 'challenge' some of their classmates, often for a small amount of change. The others didn't overly mind this, as although they knew they may as well be giving away their money, it excused them from the collection allowing James and Sirius to fund the fairly regular Saturday night party thrown by the Marauders.

Although James or Sirius could easily cover the costs through the riches inherited from their pureblood families, they both would not for various reasons. Sirius refused to contact his parents again, for after he had run away to live with James the previous summer, and James' parents, although supportive of their son, and able to cope surprisingly well with their troublemaking son, would not be overly pleased if they discovered that their only son was using his inheritance to fund the school's alcohol intake.

BANG!

Suddenly the pack of cars exploded, showering over the amused onlookers.

"YES!" James leaped up from his seat, punching the air with his fist. "Score for James Potter!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Two sickles it is then." He threw two sickles onto the table good naturedly, then took his place with the others on the floor.

"Any other takers?" James looked around the other sixth years, who all shook their heads at him. "Evans?" James turned to look at her.

Lily laughed and held his gaze. "Sorry, Potter, I'm running a bit skint at the moment." She said sarcastically – as everyone knew this wasn't the real reason.

"Surely you can't expect to turn up this weekend without making your contribution Evans?" Sirius asked, in a mockingly disapproving tone.

Peter shook his head as Remus added, "It's only fair."

Lily laughed again, and said "After that party last night?" She shook her head. "There's no way I can drink again for another month at the least. Thanks for the offer though."

"Come on Evans!" James now had on his trademark cocky smirk, and he stood up from the armchair he occupied. "Just one game! You don't even have to bet, if you're that skint."

She shook her head again defiantly, a small smirk playing at the edges of her lips.

"Yeah, come on Evans!" Sirius mocked James' tone, making him sound almost pleading. "Give our James one achievement at least – if you just play him at cards he'll feel as if he's landed on the Moon, or -."

James scowled, throwing a cushion at his best friend. It hit him right in the face, distracting Sirius long enough for him to forget their topic of conversation.

"Oi!" Sirius leapt at his best friend and pushed him to the floor, only half playfully.

"Gerroff!" James mumbled, falling backwards and pushing his friend off him.

"Get a room you two!" Amy yelled, causing them to promptly stop their messing about.

Remus rolled his eyes and took out his Potions book from his bag. "I'm going to bed." He announced, flinging his bag over his shoulder and heading towards the dormitories. "G'night."

As everyone mumbled their goodnights, they started to realise just how tired they were after the party last night and that it was getting late. They hastily started to pack away their things, as Sirius clapped his hand to his forehead, and leapt out of his chair.

"Shit."

"What?" James asked bewilderedly, staring at his friend.

"I was supposed to meet Stacey tonight!" He yelled back at them as he ran for the portrait hole.

James rolled his eyes and lounged back in his chair. As the rest of the sixth years all headed up to their dormitories, only himself, Adam, Lily and Amy remained.

"So.." Adam started, in an almost awkward manner. "Aim, do you want to go, um, see if we can find that book from the library you told me about? I think if we go down now we'll probably be able to..find it."

A look of confusion flashed across her face before she caught on and recognition took over. "Um.." She hesitated, pulling a face as she fiddled with the bottom of her jumper. "Yeah." She looked up at him suddenly with a flirtatious smile. "Let's go."

A smirk crossed Adam's face, and he stood up, inclining his head towards the portrait hole, and Amy followed him out only slightly sheepishly, as James shook his head and tutted loudly.

"Way to pull a girl." He rolled his eyes. "The library isn't even open. He may as well have just shouted through the castle 'I'm shagging Richards!'. Not that she seemed too bothered."

Lily giggled. "Stop it!" She sat down on the floor with her back resting against an armchair next to James'. "She's a lovely girl really."

"You use the word lovely an awful lot." James wrinkled up his nose. "So, Evans. Now we're left by those poor excuses for friends, I guess there's not a lot else to do but play cards." He picked up the deck of cards from the table in front of him and started shuffling them absent mindedly.

Lily shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm going up to bed now, I'm really tired."

"Please? Just one game, Evans. It won't take long! I promise!" He looked so sincere that Lily couldn't refuse again. She shook her head and sat up on the armchair opposite the table, rolling her eyes.

"One game. Then I'm going to bed. And if I'm too tired to concentrate in charms tomorrow, you're going to get it."

James laughed. "I'm going to get it? Evans, you sound like an eleven year old."

"Shut up and deal, Potter."

Two hours and five card games later, James and Lily sat on the sofa by the fire, and Lily was laughing so hard she thought she was going to burst.

"And then –" James spluttered, laughing himself, "And then, he says 'But Professor, I – I think my horned slugs have just landed in your tea.." And he doubled over with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes as he sat back up.

Lily sat back up. "James, that's so rude!" She giggled, not creating an entirely convincing argument. "Professor Slughorn is such a lovely man!"

"See!" James looked up, smiling. "There it is again. 'Lovely'. Out of all the adjectives you could possibley think of, you choose lovely?"

"Lovely is a good adjective!" Lily said defensively. "It just describes so many things.."

"It's a weird word!" James said indignantly. "It just makes everyone think of rainbows and unicorns and..flowers."

"Which is a bad thing how, may I ask?"

"It's just not what everyone wants to think about in relation to, say, Professor Slughorn." James said with a smirk.

"He is lovely" Lily repeated, looking at him defiantly. They sat there for a moment – James smirking, and Lily meeting his gaze – before Lily looked away.

"I should be getting up to bed. It's really late."

"Yeah, me too." James ran his fingers through his messy hair wearily, before standing up. Lily followed suit, and as they walked over to the spiral staircases which lead to the dormitories, their hands brushed against each other, causing them both to flinch.

James stopped as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Night, Evans."

"Night, Potter."

As James watched Lily turn around to face him, he braced himself for what he knew was coming. Before he could prepare himself, however, he looked into her beautiful green eyes and felt all the air being knocked out of him as he was once again hit by her beauty. She was beautiful; he had discovered that a long time ago. But now, as he looked down at her, he felt he was fully appreciating it for the first time. He felt the familiar lurch beneath his ribcage, and he wished desperately that he didn't feel quite so uncomfortable in their close proximity.

As Lily turned to face him, and she looked up into his eyes, she realised a few things. First, that she was suddenly aware that James Potter looked hot. He had always been good looking - ask any girl, in any year at Hogwarts and they would confirm that for you. But she had never actually thought of him as hot before this moment. Second - that they were standing close, very close. Their toes were almost touching, and as she blinked up at him, she could feel his breath, as he exhaled softly, against her cheek. Third - that as she stared into his eyes, she felt a little lurch beneath her ribcage. And last – that all of the former made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

As James tried to regain control of himself, only one thought filled his head. He was overcome with desire as he imagined how it would feel if, right now, he kissed her.

A million thoughts were running around Lily's mind. Why had she suddenly felt like this, just because was standing close to James Potter? Did she want to feel like this? What did she want to happen? However, as she tried to shake herself out of it, she couldn't seem to fathom any reasonable thought as her eyes moved to his lips.

James' neck seemed to incline by itself as he slowly lowered his head, still staring into her eyes. Her beautiful, green eyes.

Lily could feel her heart beating so loudly, she thought it would be a miracle if James hadn't heard it. She automatically stepped onto her tiptoes as her eyelids fluttered softly closed.

James closed his eyes, and reached out to put his hands on the small of her back.

As soon as she felt his hands brush against her side, she opened her eyes and stepped back suddenly. Feeling her retreat, James too opened his eyes and looked down at the floor to hide his embarrassment.

"I should get up to bed." Lily murmured softly, turning away from him and towards the stairs leading to her dormitory.

James nodded, but she had already gone. He slid down the wall behind him and sat on the floor for a few minutes. Why had he been so stupid? She had made it perfectly obvious that she wasn't interested in him in that way, and he had to go and ruin what little fun they'd had that night. Smooth. Real smooth. He sighed and stood up, slowly retreating up to his dormitory.

Lily groaned as she slipped into her four poster bed. Why had she done that? Why had she stopped herself from kissing James Potter, when she so obviously wanted to? She had to go and ruin it, just because she wasn't overly sure about her feelings. Hopefully he would give her another chance, because God knows she wanted it.

She sighed, and closed her eyes, drifting off to dream about a certain shirtless Quidditch player..

* * *

**A/N **Wow. So, as you can see, I've decided to carry on with this story! The credit for this goes to my amazing reviewers, **slytherinbyatch** and **kariba**. This is for you - without your reviews this wouldn't be here, so thank you :) you really made my day and inspired me to keep writing.

Please, please keep the reviews coming, it means so much to me and really does inspire me to carry on writing. One sentance is all it takes to make my day :)

I love you all,

Poppy x


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Lily awoke feeling happier than she had in a while. It would all be okay, she told herself. Potter had seemed to feel the way she had – and it couldn't be too hard to apologise for her actions last night. He was, despite his frequent show of arrogance and cockiness, a genuine guy, and he would understand if she had felt nervous last night. She just had to explain to him, she thought, and see where it went from there. They had charms this morning; she could speak to him after that. Perfect. As she slipped out of her bed and started to get herself ready for school, she looked practically elated – much to the surprise of her roommates.

"So what happened last night with Potter that's made you all smiley today then Lily?" Amy said slyly, with a smirk playing at her lips.

"You were with James last night?" Maddie MacMillan asked, looking aghast. She flicked her rather plain brown hair behind her shoulders, and gave Lily a demanding, yet mistrustful look. "You slept with James Potter?"

Paisley Brown, having just walked out of the bathroom adjoined to their dormitory, almost shrieked with excitement. "Lily!? You slept with James? You didn't tell me there was something going on! I knew you two would get together, I just knew it. Even though he's -"

"Wait, no!" Lily looked exasperatedly at her friends, continuing to get ready as she spoke to them. "When did I say I slept with James? I didn't. I was just left with him in the Common Room last night when someone" She glared at Amy, only half playfully, "decided they wanted some 'alone time' with Adam Kirke.."

"Aim, you gave Adam another chance? I thought last time you said he was a jerk -"

"Paisley, shush. Yes, I went last night with Adam and we shagged in a broom cupboard. No biggie. And Lily, don't try and change the subject! What happened with you and James?"

Both Paisley and Maddie now turned on Lily, looking at her expectantly.

"Nothing happened!" Lily said almost defensively. "Nothing at all. We talked, then played cards, then talked a bit more -"

"He kissed you didn't he?" Maddie said accusingly, shooting Lily a glare.

"You can trust us!" Paisley piped up.

"No!" Lily almost shouted, not bothering to mention that Paisley was probably the last person she would trust with the details of her love life, even if there were any to tell. "I didn't sleep with James, I didn't kiss him, nothing happened." She finished yanking a hairbrush through her hair, then shoved some spell books into her bag, not bothering to check if she had the right ones.

Maddie had a satisfactory smirk on her face, and Paisley pouted at her, but after a few seconds they both turned away and continued to get themselves ready.

"So..what did you and Adam do last night Amy?" Paisley asked, her usual perky voice having returned. "Where did you go? Did you.."

Amy rolled her eyes behind Paisley's back, shot an amused look at Lily, then proceeded to tell her story from the night before.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Lily and Amy walked arm in arm up from the Great Hall to their Charms class. Charms was one of Lily's favourite subjects, and she was particularly excited about their lesson today, for reasons other than academic ones. She had felt a warm glow inside of her since this morning, and she practically skipped down the corridor.

"So," Amy chatted to her, "I said to him, 'Adam, you know this is nothing serious, right?' I mean, he must surely know that I don't, you know, fancy him or anything? So he acted all cool and stuff, all like 'Yeah obviously, I just want a good shag every now and again,' but I could tell he didn't mean it, if you get me? He doesn't act like most boys who are only in it for sex, he's different.."

"Mm," Lily murmured, struggling to keep up with her friends babbling. "He fancies you Aim. You shouldn't string him along like that."

"Oh, I'm not stringing him along!" Amy looked shocked. "I've been perfectly clear on where I stand in all of this, its him who's acting all confusing.."

"So.." Lily gave her friend a cheeky glance. "Who do you like then? We haven't had a good girly chat in ages!"

"No one!" Amy said, speaking a bit too quickly. "You know me, I'm not all that into the whole relationships business. It's just hassle.."

Lily gave her friend a stern look. "I thought we'd agreed on not lying to each other?"

"I'm just not all that into anyone." Amy avoided her gaze.

"Who is it?" Lily teased. "Is it Peter?"

"No!" Amy cried out, shooting her friend an exasperated look.

"What? Peter's a lovely boy.."

"Yes, well he just doesn't seem..perfect boyfriend material." Amy insisted.

Lily rolled her eyes. "So..maybe Remus?"

Amy scrunched up her nose. "He's too..good."

"What's wrong with that?" Lily asked indignantly.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Amy smirked at Lily. "I just like the bad boys." She winked as Lily shuddered.

"Too much information! So..it's not James is it?" Lily asked almost tentatively.

"Of course not! Although he isn't exactly good, definitely seems more like a bad boy.." Amy laughed as a look of shock automatically made its way onto Lily's face. "I'm joking, Lily! Anyway, I could never take him away from you.."

Lily shoved her friend playfully as comprehension dawned on her. "It's Sirius, isn't it?"

"What? No." She said defiantly, but a small blush was forming on her cheeks.

"It is!" Lily giggled, pulling on her friend's arm. "You like Sirius! Since when?"

"I do not!" Amy retorted, but shot a look at Lily, warning her to be quiet.

"Aw! That's so cute! And you snogged him the other night, did anything else happen?"

"Lily!" Amy shot her friend a look as they neared the door of their Charms class. "Please, can we discuss this later?"

"Sure." Lily giggled. "But you're not getting out of this one.."

"Fine." She turned around, her hand on the handle of the classroom. "I'll tell you, if you tell me exactly what happened last night." She smirked, pushing open the door as Lily blushed furiously.

* * *

Lily took a short moment to compose herself before following her friend into their charms classroom. She followed her dutifully to their usual seats by the window, pointedly not looking at James as they passed Remus and him in the back row, although she could feel him staring at her.

She made a big deal of sitting down, unpacking her wand and Charms book, then sat down and snuck a glance over at James. He was deep in discussion with Remus (Peter hadn't made the grade to take NEWT level Charms) and had a smirk plastered on his - rather attractive, Lily thought to herself - face. She smiled to herself, then busied herself in chatting aimlessly with Amy.

* * *

Twenty minutes into the lesson, Sirius burst into the class with his usual, dramatic saunter. Professor Flitwick, their fairly laid back teacher looked horrified. He had only started teaching this year, and was hardly capable of controlling their sixth year class, containing most of the Marauders. However, Lily often doubted if he would ever be able to have as much control over his class, say, as Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Black! The lesson started twenty minutes ago! What on earth have you been doing?" He spluttered, in his attempt at a pompous manner. The rest of the class fell quiet, turning to watch the scene.

"Well Sir, if I told you that, I would most likely be in detention for a long time. And I don't particularly want more detentions, if I'm completely honest." Sirius drawled, taking his seat between Remus and James. "And anyway, Sir, I don't really think its polite to talk about such things in front of such innocent, young minds."

The rest of the class laughed as Professor Flitwick blushed to the roots of his whispy hair. "Right then, take a seat then Mr Black.." He added, although Sirius had quite clearly started the lesson already.

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius, then turned to face her friend.

"Were you with Stacey this morning then?" asked James, his voice travelling across to where the two girls were sitting.

"Yup." Sirius made no effort to keep his voice down. "Couldn't get her off me after last night..I figured it would be better than sitting with you losers in Charms."

Lily felt her friend stiffen beside her, Amy's face was blank of expression, but Lily could tell this bothered her. She touched her friend's arm sympathetically.

James chuckled, then added "But still you come crawling back to us.."

"You're just jealous. How's Evans?" Sirius retorted, much to Lily's embarrassment, and she flushed a deep red, and started fiddling with her hair.

"Great, actually, after last night." James said easily.

Now it was Amy's turn to comfort Lily, as she looked absolutely mortified.

"What? No way. Prove it." Sirius demanded.

"Fine." James cleared his throat, then called out. "Oi, Evans!"

Lily turned around slowly, glaring at him. He was leaning back on his chair, his arm thrown over the top of the empty chair next to him.

"Come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend, yeah?"

Lily looked at him incredulously. "I've never known anyone so arrogant as you, Potter. You think every girl in this whole damn school is in love with you. You've got some nerve." She flipped her hair behind her shoulders, and turned around after shooting him one last glare.

Sirius roared with laughter.

"Unlucky, Prongs mate," Remus chuckled. "I think I'd take that as a no.."

* * *

Lily marched furiously along the corridor after the lesson, and Amy hurried along after her. "Lily, wait!" Amy grabbed her arm. "Listen to me! He's just acting like an idiot in front of his mates! He doesn't mean it, I know he doesn't. Give him a chance!"

Lily turned on her. "Give him a chance? He's had his flipping chance. If that's how he's going to act, I want nothing more to do with him."

"Lily! Just stop thinking about yourself for just one moment! Unless you are deaf, you know that Sirius has slept with Stacey Taylor. Again. How do you think that makes me feel? You're not the only one upset by the Marauders' actions." Amy looked as if she was going to cry.

Lily softened. "I'm sorry Aim, I really am. Sirius is an idiot."

Amy brushed her off. "It's fine." She said, but Lily could tell she was still upset. She put her arm around Amy's shoulders. "They're all idiots, the lot of them."

A smile played on Amy's lips, and she looked at her friend gratefully.

Lily smiled at her as they continued. "We'll be fine. Who needs them anyway?" Amy declared, squeezing her shoulders.

"Not us, that's for sure." Lily gave her a cheeky glance.

* * *

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Lily and Amy pointedly ignored James and Sirius, but often struck up conversation with Remus and Peter, just in attempt to make the other two realise they were being ignored. However, it was fairly unsuccessful, as it seemed to have no effect on them whatsoever.

In the Common Room that evening, Lily and Amy sat curled up infront of the fire, Lily reading her copy of Advanced Potion Making, and Amy flicking through a copy of Witch Weekly. As the sky outside darkened and the other students proceeded up to their dormitaries, Amy sighed and stood up. "I'm going to bed." She yawned. "You coming?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm gonna finish up with this. I'll be up in a minute."

"Okay." Her friend nodded, and with a llittle wave, walked up the spiral staircase.

* * *

Lily awoke some time later, having fallen asleep soon after her friend had left. She was now alone in the Common Room. She placed her Potions book on the table, then stood up and stretched. God, she was tired. Yawning, she made her way upstairs.

Afterchanging into her pajamas and getting herself ready for bed, she realised that she had left her book downstairs. She could always collect it in the morning..but there was always the chance that it could go missing, and she couldn't be without that book. Groaning, she slumped down the stairs in her large, faded t-shirt and a small pair of pajama shorts.

She walked over to the chair where she had sat not long ago, then picked up her book and turned around to go back upstairs. However, she found her path blocked by James Potter, dressed in his Quidditch gear - he had obviously been at practice. She let out a little shreik, and clutched her hand to her chest in fright.

James smirked. "Did I scare you?"

"No." Lily scowled and went to walk around him.

"Evans!" James grabbed her arm, and as much as she hated it, she felt sparks shoot up her arm. "Why so moody? You've been like it all day, you and Richards, moping around the castle - ever since first lesson."

"No reason." Lily shot him a disbelieving look, and attempted to push his arm away, but it only made him grip tighter, and he grabbed her other arm.

"Yeah, whatever." James raised his eyebrows. "Speak to me Evans!"

"Why should I? Obviously I don't mean anything to you. Trying to embarass me like that earlier, it was humiliating! But don't worry, it won't happen again." She blurted before she could stop herself.

James looked genuinely shocked. "_Me?_ Embarass _you? _I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who turned you down in the most arrogant way possible, in front of everyone this morning. If you don't like me like that, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a huge show of it in the middle of class."

Lily looked incredulously at him. "You are unbelievable! Not only was it you who started the whole public confrontation, but you were bragging about me to your mates, implying that you shagged me last night!"

"I did not!" He exclaimed, "Did I say I shagged you? I only told them that you would be happy after last night, which, at the time, I believed to be true. But no, you were only giving me mixed signals. Typical."

"But that's what they thought, don't deny you didn't see that! And you did nothing to stop them from thinking that." She looked at him angrily. "And, for your information, I was not giving you 'mixed signals'. I just didn't want you to speak to me about it like that."

James froze for a moment. "What was wrong with how I spoke to you?"

Lily felt like bursting into tears. "Everything! You just don't get it." She turned her face away from him.

"Well then help me." James said softly, boring his eyes into her.

They stood like that for a moment, Lily holding back tears and James gripping her wrists furiously, before James, not knowing what else to do, leant down in attempt to kiss her. Lily reacted in just the way he had hoped she would not. She yanked her arms out of his vice-like grip, and shooting him a glare full of contempt, retreated up the stairs.

He stood stock still for a moment, before running his hand through his hair, and exhaling loudly. He then picked up his broomstick, and a bunch of flowers he had stayed behind after practice to pick from the Forest from behind the sofa, chucking the flowers into the dying embers of the fire.

* * *

**A/N** - That was a quick update! The thanks for that again goes to **kariba** and **slytherinbyatch** , who have stuck by me for these first two chapters - I hope you like it.

I may not update for a while now - its my first day in sixth form tomorrow, and I'm going to be overloaded, I can sense it. But I'm going to try and get the next update up ASAP, hopefully before next weekend.

Please, please leave me a review to inspire me to write. I'm sure all you writers out there know what it's like to feel like someone appreciates your work - so please, one sentance is all it takes to make my day.

I love you all,

Poppy x


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the week continued with no major confrontations between the four – Amy, Lily, James and Sirius. The girls did their best to avoid them at all costs – and James was getting frustrated with Lily. So much so, that on Friday evening, when the majority of Gryffindor house were unwinding after their week at school in the Common Room, James and the other Marauders decided to confront their fellow sixth years about the party scheduled for the following night.

"Evans!" James plonked down in the empty seat next to her, taking the book she was reading out of her hands. He felt her stiffen next to him as he threw his arm casually over the back of the sofa they were sharing. "Advanced Potion Making? What on Earth do you want to be reading this for on a Friday night?"

Lily cooly took the book back, and stood up from her seat, sitting on the floor next to the armchair occupied by Amy. "It's called studying, Potter. You wouldn't ever have heard of it."

"Of course not. We're just too clever for our own good – studying is for people who want to be clever. We – on the other hand – well, let's just say it comes more naturally to some than others." Sirius joked, sitting on the arm of the sofa next to James, as Remus and Peter each took a seat on the arm of the armchair and the other sofa arm respectively.

Lily rolled her eyes as Amy scowled, playing with the hem of her jumper. Maddie, who had previously been sitting on the floor with Paisley, jumped up and took Lily's previous seat eagerly. James noticed that she sat considerably closer to him than Lily had, in fact, so much so that that their knees, James' which was splayed out to the side lazily, were touching.

Maddie rolled her eyes. "You know our Lily. Studying – it's all she ever does" She snickered nastily, causing James to laugh at her. Blushing, she immediately sat back into her seat.

"So..We were actually here for a reason, other than to create an immensely awkward situation," Remus started dryly.

Peter nodded, as James continued, "We're having the party tomorrow in a new location. Fifth floor, opposite 2E on the Charms Corridor. Be there, it'll be legendary."

"What, you're going to have the party in the middle of the corridor?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Nope." Sirius practically beamed. "You know the tapestry of that mad old Warlock who tried to bewitch his own feet to tap dance?"

The girls all nodded.

"Well, meet us there."

Maddie nodded vigorously. "I'll – we'll be there."

"All of you?" James asked carefully, still looking at Maddie.

She nodded again. "Yup."

He visibly relaxed. "Nice one." He looked away from her. "Evans? You'll go with me, wont you?"

"Not in a million years, Potter." She shot him a glare, and he felt a rush as he thought to himself that it felt different this time. Not like her usual eye-roll and sarcastic reply – although he felt a stabbing pain in his gut every time she turned him down - usually it just made him feel almost certain that someday, she would come around. But this, this felt as if she was well and truly rejecting him. As if she truly thought he was worthless, and not worth her time. It hurt.

She stood up and turned her back on James. "I'm going to bed. Night, I'll see you girls in a bit." And with that, she marched over to the spiral staircase and up to her dormitory.

"Looks like you'll be without a date then Prongs!" Sirius said casually, a smirk growing on his face.

"Oh yeah, and who will you be going with then?" James snorted, talking over and ignoring Maddie's feeble "You know, I haven't a date either.."

Sirius scrunched up his nose. "You know, I'm more of a bachelor than a guy who gets tied down by commitment. But you know, as you mention it..Richards?"

Amy looked at him questioningly.

"You wanna go with me?"

Amy looked at him in disgust. "So I can stand around and watch you make a move on anything which moves and doesn't have a penis? Not likely." And she too stood up and followed Lily's example, heading up to bed.

Peter chuckled as Remus shook his head at the other two – Sirius looking dumbstruck as James laughed at him.

"Looks like you're dateless as well then, Padfoot mate."

Sirius chucked a pillow at his best friend, scowling slightly now.

Paisley, who had been extremely quiet up until now, piped up in her usual manner. "So, do you actually like her then Sirius? Like want a relationship? Or are you just, like, I dunno, in it just for a shag? Because, well, if you are, then maybe it's best to like, not go for her? Because, obviously, she's gotten pretty close to Adam Kirke lately, and some other girl would be much better I would think.."

Sirius looked bewildered. "Sorry, what? I lost you there,"

"Well, I was just thinking, if, you know.."

"Wait!" He interrupted her. "Don't repeat it. I got it the first time.." He trailed off, closing his eyes and sliding onto the empty armchair with a sigh.

Maddie looked amusedly at James, who smiled back. "Right," She announced. "I'm off to bed now – I'll see you tomorrow James?" She asked, completely ignoring the others.

"Um..yeah?" James replied, looking slightly amused. "I'll see you at breakfast with everyone else."

"Right, yeah!" Maddie positively beamed at him. "Night!" She called as she made her way across the Common Room.

"You know, I think I'll go too.." Paisley scurried off to join her friend.

"Well, that went well.." Peter murmured, smirking around at his friends.

"Yeah? Don't see you getting any girls Wormtail?" Sirius drawled, his over-inflated ego seeming to not be dented at all.

Peter flushed red. Seeing his embarrassment, James hastened to change the subject, rolling his eyes.

"So, plans for tomorrow night Sirius?"

"I dunno." Sirius lay sprawled out on the floor by the fire. "Probably get with that Hufflepuff bird. What's her name again? Anna?"

"Hannah." Remus corrected, sitting back into the armchair.

"Yeah, her. And Richards won't exactly say no when she's there. Heard she's an alright shag as well. Maybe spend the night with someone. Who knows. The world's, as they say, my oyster."

Remus rolled his eyes at her. "What about Stacey?"

"What about her?"

"Well, she's been telling everyone that you're seeing each other.."

"She has?" Sirius looked bewildered. "Why would she do that?"

"Because, although I find it hard to believe with your quite frankly disgusting and disrespectful attitudes towards the whole of the female race, she may actually like you, and isn't just looking for an easy shag." Remus said dryly.

"Blimey." Sirius looked only slightly taken aback. "Ah well. All good things must come to an end." And with that he stood up, walking out of the Common Room.

"Has he actually gone to break up with her?" Peter asked, amusedly.

James snorted. "Not likely. Most probably gone to get all he can before it gets back to her that he's snogging other girls."

Peter snickered and Remus sighed.

"I'm going to bed."

"Night, Moony."

"See you Remus.."

Remus retreated up the stairs to their dormitory.

* * *

Sirius knocked on the door to Stacey's room, having just persuaded some fourth year to let him into their Common Room.

After a few seconds, Stacey threw open the door, mid laugh. He was immediately faced with a group of aorund five giggling girls. "Sirius!" She said, positively beaming at him. "Come in!" She gestured for him to step inside.

He stepped warily in, nodding at the girls occupying the room. "Ladies," He said.

Stacey giggled at him. "Girls, would you mind giving us some privacy?"

They all shook their heads and scurried out the door, shooting the pair a smirk and a wink as they went.

When the door slammed shut, Stacey turned to face him. "i've missed you so much," She murmered, pressing up against him and throwing her arm around his neack, biting her lip. "I knew you weren't gonna ditch me, the girls thought you'd ran off, but I knew you'd come and see me soon.."

Sirius smiled quickly at her, not knowing quite what to say. "I missed you too," he said placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer.

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his forcefully, moaning into his lips. He smiled, kissing her back. After a minute she pulled away, and looked at him.

"What?"

She bit her lip again. "I was just..we are seeing each other, aren't we Sirius?"

Sirius stayed silent for a moment. "I - I don't know. Can you give me some time?"

She didn't look too happy. "So, you're using me?"

"No! Of course I care about you, baby. I just don't want to rush into anything. You understand."

She nodded slowly, running her hand carelessly under his shirt and against his abs. "Yeah, I get it. But I don't want there to be any confusion - I want this, you know. It's you who's not sure here." She looked at him sternly.

"Yeah. I'll let you know." Sirius said pathetically. After a moment, not knowing what else to do, Sirius pulled her in for another kiss.

* * *

"Strange how different we are, isn't it?"

"Huh?" James blinked at Peter, who was figiting.

"I mean, you and Sirius are just so..different. From me I mean." Peter rushed. "Like, you two are just..I don't know. Ignore me. This is stupid."

James raised his eyebrows at him. "No, carry on."

"Well.." Peter flushed again. "I wonder sometimes really why you keep me around. You two are such badasses, and Remus is the good one who attempts to keep you in line – however futile his attempts are. You're the most popular people in school – no doubt about that – you're all good looking and the girls love all three of you. But can't pluck up the balls to even talk to a girl I might fancy. I'm just..different."

James stared at him in amazement. "You just truly out-gayed yourself Pete. I've never heard a speech that emotional even from a bird." He shook his head, laughing. Upon seeing Peter's almost hurt expression, James' expression softened slightly. "Wormtail. We're the Marauders. Geddit? The four of us together – we're unstoppable. It's just the four of us. Nothing's going to change that anytime soon."

Peter smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, obviously. Just testing your loyalties." He hopped up off of the sofa. "I'm going to bed. See ya, James."

"Night, mate."

James sat thinking for a while about what Peter had said. It had obviously been bothering him for a while before he had plucked up the courage to say what he had – so it was obviously bothering him a lot. It was true – Sirius was the self-proclaimed heart throb of the school, he was the champion Quidditch Captain and player, and Remus was the Prefect, most probable Head Boy next year, and the brains. Peter was just..well, Peter. He sighed and stood up, slouching over to the Spiral Staircase. He would have to make a bigger effort to include Peter from now on.

* * *

**A/N **- I'm not really sure if I'm particularly pleased with how this turned out- so this may not be permanent. Please tell me what you thought of it - as I'm in half a mind to redo this chapter.

So my update didn't take tooooo long I suppose..Hope you don't mind the slightly longer wait now Im back in school!

Many, many thanks to my two reviewers - you have been the ones who have made me keep writing. And you seem to be the only two enjoying it! But seriously, **slytherinbyatch** and **kariba** , you make my day when I log in and read the lovely reviews you have left for me.

Thank you so, so much :)

I love you all,

Poppy x


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, the Marauders woke relatively early, excited in anticipation of the party that evening. James walked into the Great Hall in order to join the other three at breakfast, who had walked down only a few minutes earlier. However, as he entered through the grand doors, he stopped as he found himself face to face with the three he was looking for.

"Fancy some fresh air?" Remus asked, chucking him a pile of toast.

"Yeah." James nodded, taking a bite into it. James loved the outdoors. It made him feel free – although he never exactly felt 'trapped', as such, inside, especially not in Hogwarts, he always felt a swift relief as he stepped outside and felt a cool breeze on his face. This particular morning was especially windy - although early June, in Scotland this weather was not unusual at this time of year.

It was why he loved Quidditch so much – he could absorb himself in the outdoors and the weather, and lose track of all the problems in his everyday life whilst sweating it out on the pitch. That, and obviously the fact that he was good at it., James often found that he would never get quite so attached to something if he wasn't good at it.

"So..." James started, smirking at his friend. "Plan of action for tonight Remus?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "You know perfectly well, James."

"Pulling some birds, is it Moony?" James elbowed his friend in the ribs.

Remus sighed. "You know I can't do that."

"Why?" Sirius asked obnoxiously. As Remus started to answer he interrupted, "And don't say it's anything to do with your 'furry little problem', mate. Maybe you don't want to get into a relationship – whatever. That doesn't mean you can't have fun!"

James slapped him across the back as Peter added, "And you know that a lot of girls go for the whole brains thing."

Remus looked at the ground, scuffing his feet along the floor. "It wouldn't be right."

Sirius scoffed. "Why ever not? That's the best way to do it."

"You don't understand."

"Stop trying to make it out like everything's so complicated!" James cried out. "Yes, you turn into a monster once a month. Trust me – that happens to the entire female population." As Sirius snickered and Remus shook his head at him, he continued. "I'm joking, Moony. Yes, you are a werewolf. Big deal. That doesn't stop you from living every once in a while!"

Remus stayed silent for a moment. "Will you just leave it?" He pleaded.

James shook his head in mock despair. "Fine. For now. But I'm not leaving this rest until you get a girl, Moony."

"James, bet you I can pull more girls than you tonight." Sirius declared, smirking at his best friend in an attempt to change the subject.

"You wish, Padfoot. I'm not even going to take you up on that it's so ridiculous."

Sirius smirked. "Scared? You know you'll lose, fair and square."

James scowled. "Obviously not. I just don't think there's any point."

"You actually are scared!" Sirius laughed at him in mock disbelief. "You know I'll beat you." - "Shut up." – "Either that, or you're too scared Evans will never fall for you if she sees you snogging a load of girls senseless."

James threw a piece of toast at him.

"It's true though," Sirius taunted. "You know you won't have fun because of Evans."

"Shut up." James repeated. He sighed, running his hand through his messy hair. "I'll do it." He said defiantly.

"You'll do it?" Sirius asked disbelievingly. "You actually will?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "I obviously need to show you who's more successful with the ladies."

Sirius practically beamed. "Brilliant."

* * *

A few hours later, it was absolute chaos in the girls' dormitory.

"Where's my hairbrush?"

"Have you seen my mascara?"

"Amy, is that my skirt?"

"Shut up!" Lily cried, holding her hands to her head. "Shut up, shut up, please, I can't even think in here." She had just walked out of the bathroom, her hair up in a towel turban-style, and wearing only a bath robe.

Paisley pouted at her. "But Amy's wearing my skirt, I was going to wear it and-"

"I don't care." Lily groaned, "And anyway, it doesn't even go with that top. Paise, go in my wardrobe – there's a black mini you can wear."

Paisley beamed. "Thanks Lils!" She leaped off her bed and started rummaging through Lily's belongings.

"No problem." Lily muttered, sitting on the end of her bed. She really was not in the mood to go to this stupid party. The only reason she was going at all was so that James bloody Potter wouldn't think she was avoiding him.

"What's up with you?" Amy asked reproachfully, carefully applying her recently located mascara in front of her mirror.

"I'm just not in the mood." Lily grumbled, joining Paisley in searching for something to wear.

Amy raised an eyebrow at her. "James?" She mouthed, when neither of the other two were looking. Lily nodded, a regretful look on her face. Amy rolled her eyes.

"Come on," She said, out loud this time. "If I'm up for it, so are you." Amy gave her a knowing look.

Lily sighed and gave her a small smile. "Mm."

"So, why aren't you going with Sirius, Amy?" Paisley asked, squeezing the now located mini skirt over her thighs. "I mean, I know he gets around, but really, he's quite good looking and that. He's -"

"Are you serious?" Amy asked, interrupting her roommates babbling. "He's acting like a dick. And anyway, Adam Kirke asked me earlier. I'm taken now."

Lily turned around in shock, "You said yes to him?" She asked disapprovingly.

Amy shrugged. "He's a nice guy."

"Yeah, but he likes you an awful lot Aim."

Paisley, having not listened to the last part of the conversation, continued. "Well, you know, if you're not – I mean if you were, it would be different – but as you're not, I think I might get with Sirius tonight -"

"Whatever. As I said, he's a dick." Amy put on a nonchalant face, but quickly moved on into the bathroom.

Paisley now looked considerably happier. "I mean, he is really good looking. And I've heard he doesn't even like Stacey very much at all."

"I think James is better looking." Maddie added, touching some powder onto her face. "I'd take him any day."

"Well, I think they're both idiots," Said Lily, sliding into a deep purple strapless dress, which clung to her figure.

"Really though?" Asked Maddie, shooting Lily a look. "James is a lovely boy, but if you don't mind me saying, you two don't suit each other at all. In fact, I think you two would make a horrible couple. I just think that he better suits brunettes," She said, flicking her plain brown hair behind her shoulder.

Lily pursed her lips, but then stopped as soon as she realised that she reminded herself of her sister. "Yeah." She agreed absent mindedly, forcing a smile onto her pretty features.

Maddie spun around. "What, you think you and James would make a horrible couple?"

"Hm?" Lily asked, looking up at her.

"You think that you and James would make a horrible couple?" Maddie repeated impatiently.

"I didn't say that!" Lily retorted, moving to her mirror to apply some make up. "When did I say that?"

"So, you like him?" Maddie asked, shooting daggers at her.

"What? James Potter? No, of course not," Lily scoffed, blushing slightly.

"Hmph." Maddie turned back around. "Good. Because like I said, I think he better suits brunettes.."

* * *

Almost two hours later, the girls arrived on the Charms corridor, giggling slightly as they reached where the Marauder's had told them to meet. Looking around, they saw the tapestry which they had been talking about, and quickly pulled it back. Behind it lay a plain wooden door, which Maddie pulled open. They stepped into a narrow corridor, following it for about a minute until it widened out into a space the size of a small classroom. Walking past a couple snogging passionately in an alcove, the four of them entered through the door at the far side of the room.

"Ooh," Murmured Paisley, staring around them with wide eyes. They were in a large room, almost four times the size of their dormitory. Music was blaring, there were only a few candles lighting the outside of the room, and the middle of the room was full of bodies moving to the music, arms reached up to the ceiling.

"Welcome, ladies!" James boomed, swaggering over to them, a firewiskey in his hand. "Drink?"

At his words a tray with four bottles on levitated over to where they were standing. The girls dutifully took one each, staring around at the room again in awe.

"Care to dance, Evans?" James reached out, placing his hand on the small of Lily's back, pulling her towards him.

"No, thanks," Lily said shortly, removing his hand from her back cooly.

James shrugged and pecked her on the cheek, before retreating back into the crowd.

Fuming, Lily marched off to join a group of Ravenclaw boys she hardly knew who were standing in the far corner. She watched Maddie follow James pathetically, and watched Sirius pull Amy into a dance, she was shaking her head, but laughing and obviously not seeming too bothered.

Lily flicked her hair behind her shoulders indigently. She was going to enjoy tonight, and James Potter wasn't going to ruin it for her. She immediately started an animated conversation with the Ravenclaw's, who looked surprised, but pleased nonetheless to see her there. After a few minutes, she turned around to see Maddie dancing next to James, who didn't look entirely comfortable in her presence. She had one hand resting on his stomach, and every now and again she would bat her eyelids up at him and laugh when he spoke. Feeling her stare, James looked up and caught her eye.

Immediately she looked away, grabbing the nearest Ravenclaw to her and pulling him into the crowd of bodies. Feeling James watching her, she began to dance with him. After a few minutes of this, Amy pushed her way through the bodies, squealing as she got to Lily. "You'll never guess what!"

"What?" Lily asked, pulling her to the side and leaving the boy she was dancing with stranded.

"It's Sirius!" Her eyes shined. "He kissed me!"

Lily shrieked. "Aim, that's amazing!" A frown briefly crossed her face. "But wait, are you sure you're happy with this? I mean, he won't have changed, he's still the same old Sirius.."

Amy nodded her head vigorously. "Honestly, Lily, I have this feeling. I think he's going to turn over a new leaf – honestly I do!"

Lily beamed. "That's brilliant!" She scanned the room for Sirius. "But don't stand here wasting time with me – get back over with him!"

Amy beamed, but then her smile faltered as she saw Lily's face drop. "What? What is it?" She turned around to try and follow her friend's line of sight.

"Nothing," Lily said hastily, attempting to pull her friend back around. But Amy was too defiant.

Her face paled as she caught sight of what Lily had seen only a few seconds earlier. Paisley Brown was snogging Sirius to within an inch of his life, and Sirius had one hand on the back of her neck, and the other clamped possessively over her bum.

Amy flushed bright red and turned away from Lily, tears filling her eyes.

"Amy-" Lily grabbed her friend but she pulled away.

"I'm fine."She muttered. "He's an arrogant player – I don't need him." Tears rolled down her face, as she searched the room desperately for an escape. "There's Adam," She said, spotting her date just entering. "I better, you know –" She gestured her head, and Lily nodded, understanding.

As Amy scampered off to join Adam, Lily reluctantly rejoined the Ravenclaw she had left stranded.

"Sorry.." She grimaced at him, almost having to shout to be heard over the music. "Girls stuff.."

He nodded at her, holding out his hand slightly sheepishly. "I didn't introduce myself before. My name's Alex. Alex Gregory."

Lily smiled at his and took his hand. "Lily Evans."

Alex pulled Lily towards him and they danced. It was a few minutes before Lily remembered about Amy's situation, and she searched the room in a hope to spot her. She saw her in the corner of the room snogging Adam, and Lily couldn't help but think to herself that it really didn't look as if Amy was too bothered about Sirius' actions. But then again, she thought as Alex twirled her around playfully, maybe that was her intention.

* * *

James was incredibly annoyed. He tried desperately to remove Maddie's tight, one-armed grip from around his back. No matter which way he walked, danced, or did practically anything else, she would be right there beside him – fluttering those stupid false eyelashes and trying to press herself up against him. He was getting beyond frustrated now. He'd tried asking her nicely, but she'd only turned it into a joke. And he had wanted to avoid embarrassing her if at all possible, as James Potter could, on occasion, be a considerate person. However, this was getting to the extreme. The only way he could think of dealing with it for the past half an hour was just to grab another firewhiskey, and that he did, many a time. He had some sense to realise that if he drunk any more he would most likely make himself considerably ill, and could think of no other way forward than to take an immediate course of action.

He firmly removed her arm from around him, and turned to face her to tell her exactly what he was thinking, when she suddenly shot out of nowhere. Catching him off guard, Maddie launched herself at James, pressing her lips against his and gripping the back of his neck tightly.

"Mmph.." James complained against her lips, attempting to squirm out of her grip. This failing, he pushed her back off of him with some considerable force, and looked at her, flabbergasted.

"What do you think you're doing?" James hissed, so no one else could hear him.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Maddie pouted at him, moving closer to him again.

"Can you not see?" He asked in frustration. "I think I've been making it perfectly clear that I am most definitely not interested in you."

James could see her eyes well up with tears. "Fine." She turned on her heel and marched out of the room. James sighed and ran his hand through his hair, but although he wanted nothing more to relax and enjoy the party, his better judgement was telling him that he needed to follow her. He jogged out of the room after her.

* * *

Lily was having a good time. Alex was a lovely boy, and this party was actually pretty good – even going by the usual Marauder standards. She didn't even know what time it was when she finally remembered that she wasn't supposed to be enjoying herself at all. The only reason she'd come at all was so that James didn't think she was avoiding him.

James..

Hastily, she downed the remainder of her firewhisky and pulled Alex to the edge of the room.

"I'm really sorry," she said, truthfully. "but I'm gonna head off now. I've got, you know, homework and stuff to do tomorrow, so.."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I get it." But Lily could tell he didn't believe her.

She shot him a sheepish look. "I'll speak to you soon?"

"Yeah sure." He gave her a slightly forced smile, and reached out to give her a peck on the cheek.

Lily blushed and backed away from him before he could. "I'm really sorry, I've got to go.."

He looked mortified. He nodded at her curtly and turned around to go back and join his friends.

Lily tried to pull herself together as she left the room. Way to go Lily, she thought as she flushed a deep shade of red.

* * *

James found Maddie sitting alone in an alcove half of the way back to the Common Room. He gulped and took a deep breath before approaching her.

"Maddie?"

She whipped around at the sound of his voice. "James?"

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and sat down beside her. "Look, Maddie, I'm really sorry. I acted a bit..over the top. Blunt. Whatever. But I'm not the guy who's gonna pretend I like you. I don't."

Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away from him. "Yeah. I got that earlier thanks. Why are you here?"

James sighed. "I just..wanted to make sure you were okay, that's all."

Maddie flicked her hair. "And why wouldn't I be?"

"Urm..well I just rejected you, so I thought.."

"Well you thought wrong." Maddie shot him a glare. "Obviously I don't like you. You're so bloody arrogant, you think everyone is just in love with you." She stood up and flounced down the corridor.

James looked bewildered. "Girls." He muttered, leaning back into the alcove for a moment. He stood up after a minute, and started to walk back towards the party.

* * *

Lily was still blushing after that incident with Alex. She hurried down the corridor, hardly paying attention to where she was going at all, when she turned a corner and collided with someone.

"Evans?"

Lily groaned, holding her head in her hand. "Not you, I'm not in the mood Potter."

"Just the reaction I wanted." James said dryly, throwing an arm casually around Lily's shoulder.

She shook it off immediately, carrying on in her original direction towards the Common Room. "I mean it Potter, I'm not in the mood."

James smirked at her and started to walk with her. "Someone's in a bad mood. Where are you off to in such a hurry anyway? The party's that way." He pointed in the opposite direction to which they were going.

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "The Common Room."

"Why?"

"Why do you think? I'm tired, and I've had enough." She wrapped her arms around herself angrily.

"Aw, come on Evans! Have a little fun, wont you?" James pouted at her.

She merely glared at him. "Where are you going anyway?"

"Walking you back."

"No, you're not."

"Um, I think you'll find I am, actually Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes and sped up, not looking at him. He followed her at a similar pace.

"Evans!" He moaned at her. "Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?" She asked sharply.

"Like this! You're being all cold. And rude. And you're not even giving me a chance to be nice!"

"You've had your chance Potter." She looked at him. "You're drunk."

He shrugged. "Not much."

She sighed. "Drunk enough."

They carried on walking in a similar manner until they reached the Common Room. Once inside, Lily marched to the bottom of the staircase. "I'm going to bed. You can run along back to your party now."

She turned around to face him, and had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. James was standing right there behind her, as he had been not even a week ago, and they were standing just as close. She mentally shook herself. No. She was not going to fall for James Potter again. No way.

But she couldn't bring herself to carry on up the staircase.

He looked at her. He never, ever got tired of looking at her. Even now, as drunk as he was, he could appreciate her beauty. He knew she didn't like him, not even as a friend – and definitely not as anything more. That much was obvious. Lily Evans did not like him. He knew that.

But he couldn't bring himself to turn around and walk away.

Only one thought formed in Lily's mind. Whether she liked it or not, she was, most definitely falling for James Potter. She groaned.

James smirked at her.

"What?" she asked softly.

He didn't answer, but merely wrapped his arms around the small of her back, pulling her body close to his, and gently presses his lips to hers.

Lily was stunned. She froze for a moment, merely feeling the touch of his lips on hers. She slowly snaked her arms around his neck, and kissed him back. James smiled against her lips, and pushed her backwards so she was pressed against the wall. She pulled away and he grinned at her.

"Not so bad after all, was it Evans?"

Lily reluctantly let a smirk play at the corner of her lips. Without saying a thing, she turned on her heel and ran up the staircase.

She got ready for bed in a blur. As she slipped in between her sheets, she could still feel where James' lips had been pressed on hers.

* * *

A few hours later, Lily awoke to the sound of Paisley and Maddie returning to their dormitory, giggling loudly.

"Eeek! I'm so happy for you Mad!" Paisley squealed at her.

"I know, I'm happy for me too!" Maddie gushed. "But keep your voice down," she said more quietly this time, "we don't want Lily hearing."

Lily opened her eyes, listening. If Maddie didn't want her hearing, it was most probably something she should know.

Paisley replied slightly quieter. "Yeah, you're right. She can get quite jealous. Especially over something like this."

"I know! Well, that won't do her much good now." Maddie giggled.

"I know! You were right all along, Mad. Obviously all the stuff about Lily was just for show – if he kissed you tonight, James Potter must definitely have a thing for you."

* * *

**A/N** Way to end a chapter- I'm sorry! I've been wanting to finish this chapter for a while, I hope you like it!

Thank you again to **slytherinbyatch, **my frequent reviewer - I love you and I hope this chapter is a better length for you!3 and to **MissMaryLiz** as well, thank you so much for your lovely review!

Hopefully my next chapter wont be too long!

I love you all,

Poppy x


	6. Chapter 6

Sunday's were most definitely the worst days of the week, Lily thought, as she awoke early the next morning. Paisley and Maddie were still fast asleep – and Amy was nowhere to be seen. Lily sighed, and then slipped out of her four poster bed. She quickly and quietly got dressed, and pulling a jumper over her head, she walked out of their dormitory and down the spiral staircase.

She needed some fresh air.

* * *

Sirius squinted. The room he was currently occupying was too bright – he couldn't make out anything. As the room slowly came into focus, he saw that, once again, he had woken up in the room of Stacey Taylor. He saw her stood at the other side of the room, pulling a brush through her long hair in front of her ornate mirror, wearing only her black lace underwear. Her reflection smiled at him, and she set down the brush and walked over to sit on the bed.

"Hey, baby."

"Alright?" Sirius said nonchalantly, sitting up slowly.

"Not too bad thanks, and yourself?"

Sirius yawned. "I've felt better."

"Hangover?"

"It's killing me."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "You got any plans for today then?"

"Um.." Sirius looked sheepish. "Actually, I said I'd meet Remus at the library, something about studying for our Defence theory exam?"

Stacey rolled her eyes and placed her hands on his shoulders. "See, I was thinking, we should go for a walk by the lake or something. You know, because I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. Can't you tell him another time?" She batted her eyelashes.

Sirius squirmed. "Aw, you know I'd love to babe, but the thing is, I promised Remus. He'll go all annoyed at me if I don't. And you know, exams aren't that far away.."

Stacey pouted. "Yeah, I get it. Marauders and all that." She raised her eyebrows. "But since when have you cared about exams? They're like a month away. I haven't even started yet, and I have my NEWTs!"

Sirius shrugged. "New me, all of that shit. Anyway I have like a half hour before I need to go meet him. Got any ideas?"

She smirked.

* * *

James awoke several hours later and groaned. His head throbbed painfully, as he sat up and yawned loudly. His roommates were nowhere to be seen, so he rolled out of bed and shuffled across the room to where a jug and five goblets sat on a small table by the window. Pouring himself a glass of ice cold water, he downed it in one, and then leant his forehead against the window and closed his eyes.

* * *

Lily sat with her back against a tree by the lake, absent-mindedly picking grass from the ground next to her. It was well into the afternoon now, and she hadn't even been back inside the castle since that morning. Although early June, weather like today's was not a common thing at Hogwarts, and Lily was trying her best to enjoy it. The sun was shining, and light danced across the lake, but Lily's mood was far from bright and cheerful. Although she had sought solitude, she now thought that the best way to have distracted herself from her thoughts was to be with other people.

Right on cue, Lily heard a rustling in the trees behind her and whipped around. Remus stood not far from where she was sat, an ever so slightly sheepish grin on his face. Lily smiled.

"Remus," She greeted him, patting the ground beside her.

"Hey." Remus walked over and slid beside her. "Are you okay? Everyone's been looking for you up at the castle."

"I'm fine." Lily shot him a smile. "Just been thinking, that's all."

"What, all day?" Remus raised his eyebrows.

Lily shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

"Come on, Lily. What's up? Did something happen last night?"

Lily shook her head absent mindedly. "I just feel..strange. I don't really know, I just.." She trailed off, staring into the lake.

Remus snorted. "You're not exactly making a lot of sense Lil." But she looked so sombre and forlorn that he thought he had to leave it.

"Where were you last night anyway Remus?" Lily asked curiously, seeming to snap out of the trance-like state she was occupying. "I didn't see you at all."

Remus turned red. "I was at.." He trailed off, murmuring something incomprehensible.

"What?"

"I said, I was at the party." Remus said defensively.

"No, you weren't." Lily said, frowning. "Not whilst I was there anyways, and I was there the majority of the night."

Remus scuffed his shoes along the grass. "I was at the party, alright?"

A smirk played at the edges of Lily's lips. "You were with a girl, weren't you?"

Remus turned a deeper shade of red. "I-I.." he started.

Lily almost beamed. "Don't deny it Remus; I can tell. Who was it? I bet it was one of the Ravenclaw's. Was it Marlene? No, I bet it was-"

"Lily.." Remus muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"What?" She asked, looking almost elated now.

"Leave it please?"

She shook her head defiantly.

He let out a sigh. "I don't know what you're so happy about." He gave her a stern look. "Fine. I was with Lucy."

"Matthews?"

"Do you know any other Lucy's in Ravenclaw?"

Lily ignored his comment and clapped her hands together in delight. "Aw, Remus! That's so cute!"

Remus merely scowled, but had a slightly lighter look about him now. "Don't tell anyone? The others think I just went back to the dormitory last night.." he pleaded.

"Of course not, your secret's safe with me. I don't see why it has to be such a big deal though. Don't James, Sirius and Peter know?"

"Nope. Not a thing."

"Why not? They're your best mates."

"Yeah, but there's some things I just don't tell them. This isn't really even anything to tell, anyhow. She just asked me to meet up when we were in the library last week, and I said yes."

Lily thought she saw the tiniest bit of excitement in his eyes. She smiled. "That's great! How did it go last night then?"

"Good, actually." He smiled. "Was a bit of a close call though, we had to hide in a broom cupboard when Maddie and James came out of nowhere." He paused for a moment, feeling Lily stiffed beside him. He gave her a searching gaze, and she deftly avoided it. "It's James, isn't it?" He asked softly.

"What?" Lily blinked at him, now it was her turn to blush.

"James. You like James. I wondered before, but now I see it." He chuckled. "Who'd have thought that you two would fall for each other? Chalk and cheese, you two are." He paused, noticing her silence. "What is it Lil?"

"Nothing." She said softly. "You won't tell..?"

"Of course not. Your secret's safe with me." He smiled and stood up. "Come on." He reached out his hand to help her up. "Let's get you back up to the castle."

* * *

"Lily!"

"Moony!"

Amy and Sirius called out simultaneously as Lily and Remus entered the Common Room.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you all day!" Amy leapt up and grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her towards their dormitory.

Lily rolled her eyes. "See you!" she called out to the others as they made their way upstairs.

"Moony, mate, you didn't see Stacey anywhere did you?" Sirius called from the sofa nearest the window. He was sat with James and Peter, and Remus came and took Amy's previous seat.

Remus snorted. "Had a sudden change of heart, is it Padfoot?"

Sirius snickered. "Not likely. It's just I told her I was studying with you today. Have to keep up my alibi."

"And she believed you?" Remus asked disbelievingly. "Anyone could tell you were lying if you mentioned studying at any time when it wasn't the night before an exam."

"Yeah, well I had my ways of distracting her." Sirius waggled his eyebrows, kicking Remus under the table. "Speaking of which, I have a plan."

"A plan?" Remus repeated dryly.

"A plan."

"A plan regarding what, may I ask?"

"You."

"A plan regarding me. Are you going to give me any more information than that, or shall I just leave now?"

"Aren't you curious to know what it involves Moony?"

Remus sighed. "No, actually I'd say more scared than curious. But go on, hit me."

Sirius grinned. "Well, I've come up with a plan which involves a devilishly good looking lady's man - in this scenario, me - helping out his mate out of the kindness of his heart, who is slightly more awkward in social situations involving the female population - a.k.a you."

Remus groaned and put his head in his hands. "Will you just give it a rest?"

"No, Moony my friend, we will not give it a rest until you've gotten over yourself and pulled. You need to man up and do something for yourself!" James joined in.

Remus scowled, as Sirius added. "Hey, I bet Pete would do it, wouldn't you mate?"

Peter looked apprehensive. "I don't know.."

"Yes you do. I'll put in all the effort, I'm an excellent wingman by the way, and then voila! You have yourself a bird. You want to make out in the Entrance Hall? She'll do it. One night stand? She'll do it. Relationship? She'll be dying for it, although I severely recommend you don't." Sirius bragged.

Peter looked defeated, but at the same time slightly disbelieving- it was clear he had long ago learnt that Sirius wasn't capable of everything he claimed to be. "Whatever." He said simply, although James thought he could see a flicker of excitement in his eyes – after all, this was new for Peter.

"So," Sirius clasped his hands together. "Now all you have to do is pick a girl. Plenty to choose from out there – I tend to stay away from the Slytherin's as much as I can, nasty the lot of them, and most of them look like trolls anyway. But, each to their own. So, who will it be?"

"Urm.." Peter turned a bit red. "I don't really know. Who d'you reckon James?"

"Pete, I have no idea mate – it doesn't really make a lot of difference to me" James sighed.

"Just stay away from Evans, yeah?" Sirius added jokingly, in an attempt to aggravate his best friend.

Peter snickered. "As if I'd take her away from him anyway – that's daylight robbery."

James scowled. "I'm going to bed, you're boring me. You coming Moony?"

Remus stood up. "Yeah. Anything to get away from these idiots."

Sirius faked looking hurt. "Moony! That hurt in here." He pointed to his chest.

Just before the two got to the dormitory, Sirius yelled. "Prongs!"

"What?" James turned around to face him.

"You lost." As a look of confusion passed over James' face, Sirius smirked. "The bet."

James shook his head and sent a cushion flying in his best friend's direction.

* * *

"So what happened last night?" Amy asked as they reached their dormitory. "And where have you been all day? You left me to deal with Paisley fricking Brown, describing in detail her kiss with Sirius, and oh-how-dreamy he is. Can you believe it? Maddie and her left about an hour ago though, they said something about going to the library I think?"

At the mention of Maddie's name Lily froze. It was only momentary, but it was a mark of their friendship that Amy noticed immediately.

"Lils?"

"What?"

"Are you alright? What's wrong? You've disappeared all day and then you come back and act all weird. What's up?" Amy patted the space next to her on her bed and Lily came to join her. "I mean it. Spill."

Lily flicked her hair out of her eyes. "I don't know." She whispered, and her eyes filled with tears.

* * *

"So, come on, who's it gonna be?" Sirius drawled.

"I don't know, I can't think." Peter said slightly awkwardly.

"Come on! You've got the Gryffindors obviously, you don't want to go year below so it's either our year or year above."

"Why don't I want to go year below?"

"You just don't. Trust me, if you want to build your reputation, its year above you want really – but our year will do. Anyway, I'd personally recommend Gryffindors or Ravenclaws. Gryffindors because we're the best at everything, and Ravenclaws because most of them are good looking. And generally a good shag too. So, any particular preference?"

Peter looked a little overwhelmed. "Um, Ravenclaw. At least then I won't have to face the embarrassment off seeing them every day in the Common Room after they've rejected me."

"That is not the attitude you need, Pete! Listen, I can make this happen for you. Trust me on this one." He clapped his hand on Peter's shoulder. "This is my area of expertise."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Okay. So yeah, Ravenclaw sounds good. And our year, preferably."

"Right. Work your way up, and all that. So basically – you've got Marlene McKinnon, Lucy Matthews, Becky Taylor or Liz Smith." Sirius counted them off his fingers.

"Marlene is a bit..out there. And isn't Becky Stacey's sister?" Sirius nodded. "Well, in that case, I'd have to choose..Lucy."

"Lucy Matthews it is then." Sirius looked smug. "Sooner than you know it she'll be all over you mate – trust me, Lucy Matthews won't look at another guy for at least the rest of this year."

**A/N **- Yaaay! I'm back writing again, it feels really good :) thanks, as usual to all of my lovely reviewers.

Please please please let me know what you thought of this in a review - it would mean the world to me!

I love you all,

Poppy x


	7. Chapter 7

The following Monday and Tuesday followed without much occurring. Lily avoided James the best she could, and James grew steadily more and more frustrated towards Lily. She was not only choosing to act as if nothing had happened between them, but she was being outright rude to him whenever he attempted to start a conversation, or just refused to acknowledge his existence at all. He just couldn't understand what he had done to make her act in this way. The Marauders followed James' example, and never said anything other than a brief 'hello' in the Great Hall every Morning, in order to not push their friend's limits any further. They could tell just how annoyed James was getting at Lily's actions, and although they had tried pushing him for information, he merely snapped at them and changed the subject, so they soon gave up.

On Wednesday morning, James joined Sirius, Remus and Peter at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He slumped down opposite Sirius and started shovelling food down his throat.

"Morning," Sirius said cheerfully, rolling his eyes at the other two as James ignored them.

"What's up with you?" Remus asked reproachfully, as Peter snickered quietly.

James glared at them. "Nothing. Why would anything be up? Can't a man eat his breakfast around here without being berated by his so-called 'mates'?"

"James, seriously now, this needs to stop." Sirius took a deep breath. "You're driving me insane. Whatever's happened between you and Evans, sort it out, or get the fuck over it. You need to pull yourself together."

As James started to protest, Sirius held up his hand and shook his head. "Leave it. But honestly, sort yourself out before you start embarrassing me." He grabbed his things and stood up. He walked off and Remus and Peter followed, Peter muttering 'I'll see you later mate.."

James sulkily kicked his bag under the table, for no apparent reason, then proceeded to finish his breakfast slightly slower than before.

Lily was feeling a lot better. She didn't need James Potter, or any boy for that matter, in order to get on with her life. She smiled to herself as she jogged down the stairs into the Entrance Hall, realising how late she was actually running that morning. She didn't realise until it was too late that she wasn't looking where she was going, and that she had collided head-first into someone.

"I'm so sorry-" she started as she looked up, but then she stopped and her eyes widened as she saw who it was.

"Don't apologise to him. It's an embarrassment, coming from a Mudblood like you." A voice came from the other side of the Entrance Hall.

Severus Snape stood not two steps in front of her, with his two - extremely unpleasant, Lily thought to herself - acquaintances Avery and Mulciber, the latter of which had just spoken.

With only a slight blush rising in her cheeks, Lily quickly pulled herself together and tried to think of a witty comeback to excuse herself from this situation. However, before she could save herself, her relief came from the place which she would have least liked it to.

"I'm sure, had Evans been able to see who it was she was walking in to, she wouldn't have bothered apologising to scum like you. However, as it was, it was obviously impossible to see who it was behind that abnormally large nose, although Evans, you should really have known the only person with a conk that size would be dear Snivellus here. Fuck off Mulciber, and take your slimy excuse for friends with you." James Potter sauntered out of the Great Hall towards where Snape and Lily stood, and casually threw his arm around Lily's shoulders when he reached her. Lily wriggled out from his grasp.

Snape's expression turned from one of extreme awkwardness, to pure hatred at the sight of James. As Mulciber and Avery walked to join him at his side, Snape whipped his wand from beneath his robes, but was already confronted with James' own, pointed at his chest.

"I said, fuck off." James snarled, stepping from beside Lily so he now stood in front of her protectively.

"When have blood traitors like you had the right to tell us what to do?" Avery spat at James.

Mulciber shot a curse at James, who deftly deflected it. Lily stepped forward but James held out his arm to keep her back.

"So that's how it is, Snivellus, you don't have the guts to take me alone? Probably for good reason, as its only ended in embarrassment for you in the past, but that's not the way to impress the ladies." James gestured his head at Lily, taunting Snape.

"He knows magic you couldn't even dream of." Mulciber snarled, as Snape remained silent. "We all do."

"You finally learnt the Jelly Legs curse? Hate to break it to you mate, but I think you'll find the rest of us discovered that in First Year."

"You four, what _do_ you think you're doing?" The stern voice which they all recognised as Professor McGonagall's was heard from the top of the stairs. "Avery, Mulciber, I do hope you remember the rule that no magic is to be performed in the corridors?" They nodded sheepishly, at which she sighed. "Good. Now get along to class." The two skulked off, shooting James a dirty look over their shoulder.

"Miss Evans, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall gave Lily a concerned look. Lily nodded, but before she could speak, McGonagall continued to speak. "I have to say I had expected better from you. As a prefect, I would not have expected you to get involved in such idiocies."

As Lily hung her head in shame, James interrupted. "Please, Professor, it's not her fault. When I got here they had her cornered." As McGonagall looked to Lily for confirmation, she nodded curtly.

"Well in that case, Potter, I'll speak to you and Miss Evans later. My office, seven o'clock. You're running late for first lesson as it is. As for you, Mr Snape, you can be sure I will be informing Professor Slughorn, as your head of house, about your actions. He will be left to decide the consequences of your actions. No run along, the lot of you."

Lily, now bright red in the face, walked swiftly into the Great Hall before either of the other two moved, in order to grab a piece of toast before she went off to double Potions. She cursed to herself silently as she realised that she had NEWT level potions with the Slytherins, and so she would be faced to spend two whole hours in the presence of both James and Snape before she could run off and hide from them both. However, as she stepped into the Great Hall to see the empty house tables, she realised their encounter had taken far longer than she had thought, and breakfast had now ended.

As she cursed again, she turned around to make her way down to the dungeons. However, as she walked out of the grand doors into the Entrance Hall, she found herself face to face with none other than James Potter. She groaned inwardly, and proceeded to walk past him, ignoring him.

"Not going to thank me, Evans?"

She didn't turn around, but as she hurried along her way she could hear footsteps following her.

"What for?" she retorted.

James made a noise of disbelief. "I just saved you from mortal embarrassment. Those Slytherins would have wiped the floor with you if I hadn't have been there!"

At this, Lily stopped and turned around to face him. "They wouldn't have! I can take care of myself, thank you very much. It was going perfectly fine until you showed up and made a huge deal out of nothing." She said cooly.

"Going perfectly fine? That's a load of bull. You looked completely defenceless; they had you cornered, three to one."

"Oh, so I'm completely defenceless am I?" Lily looked furious now. "You're such a dick, you have this thing where you think you can protect every girl out there, when actually you just make it worse for them. Just leave me alone."

"Lily, snap out of it! For one, I didn't say you were completely defenceless, just that you looked it, and let's be honest, most people would in that situation. Second, you're talking a load of rubbish. Since when do I go around rescuing damsels in distress? That's hardly my style. You've been acting all weird and bitter all week. Will you just please just accept that I helped you out, and tell me what's wrong?"

James looked so sincere at this that Lily was shocked for a second. However, she soon returned to her previous levels of anger.

"Snap out of it? I'm sorry, but you're the one who keeps trying to talk to me. I thought I had made it perfectly clear I do _not_ want to talk to you." Lily shot back at him.

"But why? I don't get it! I know we haven't always got along great, but didn't Saturday night mean anything to you? You seemed up for more than talking to me then." James added indignantly.

Lily looked at him incredulously. "Maybe it did mean something to me. But obviously it didn't mean anything to you if you were kissing other girls all night. I don't want anything to do with a boy like that."

"Lily, I didn't kiss a single other girl that night!"

"Oh, so I just imagined hearing Maddie telling Paisley what an incredible kisser you are, did I?"

There was a pause, James' face clouded over. "She told you that?" he said incredulously.

As Lily spun around and looked furiously over her shoulder at him, James called out to her and began to follow her again. "Wait, Lily! I didn't mean it like that! She pounced on me, I pushed her away. She's a desperate bitch, guys only go for that kind of girl if they're desperate too." He ran his hand through his hair as he jogged to keep up with her.

When she didn't respond, James attempted to speak to her again. "Lil? Please, listen to me."

She shot him a glare as they reached their potions classroom. "You've had plenty of chances Potter."

She pushed open the door to their classroom and didn't say another word.

The two of them walked into the classroom to find the class in full swing. Snape had arrived and was already sat in his usual seat, hastily scribbling in his copy of 'Advanced Potion Making'. A loud wolf-whistle came from the back of the class, from whom Lily highly suspected to be Sirius, who then shouted "Where _have _you two been?"

Hearing the commotion, Professor Slughorn turned around from the blackboard he had been writing on. "Miss Evans, Mr Potter, to echo Mr Black's question, where have you two been?"

James sauntered over to the empty seat beside Sirius. He slammed his bag down onto the table and slumped in his sea, putting his feet up on the desk beside Sirius' cauldron. "Professor, are you sure you'd like me to answer that question?"

Slughorn gave James a disapproving look, then turned to Lily, who had just started to make her way over to her usual seat by Ravenclaw Marlene McKinnon. "I think a change of the seating arrangements is in order. Mr Potter, please take a seat by Miss McKinnon. Miss Evans, sit at the front please." He gestured to the empty seat by Snape. Lily faltered as James protested. "But Sir, I-"

"No buts, Mr Potter. Take your seat please."

James sighed loudly and made a big deal out of repacking his bag. Meanwhile, Lily bit her lip and took her designated seat next to Snape. Slughorn continued his lecture, and Lily did her best to focus her attention to it, and not the burning embarrassment she could not avoid. She tried her absolute best not to think about what had just happened, but no matter how hard she tried she could not forget what had just been said.

Mudblood..

The memory of almost a year ago now, when Snape had used that fateful word in relation to her, filled her mind. It was all she could do to stop herself from crying. Since that day, Lily had not held a conversation with her former best friend, and although she missed his friendship, Lily knew she had made the right decision in severing their friendship. Lily knew that she truly had no idea what Snape was getting himself into, but from what she had seen and heard, she knew it was something she didn't want anything to do with. She, along with most other people in the castle, knew the type that Avery and Mulciber had been getting involved in, and as Snape began to spend more and more time with them rather than her, she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would have to end their friendship on moral grounds. There had even been rumours that over the past year the three of them had been getting involved in 'the cause' – apparently they had been in contact with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Black, among others.

Lily shook herself back to reality as Slughorn instructed the class to collect their ingredients together in order to brew the Draught of Living Death. After all, Lily thought, Snape's actions really had nothing to do with her any more. Lily and Snape worked in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Lily reached for her silver dagger in order to cut her Sopophorous Bean.

"Crush it."

"Hm?" Lily looked up at Snape, pointedly keeping a neutral expression on her face.

"Crush it. The Sopophorous Bean."

"The book clearly says cut it." Lily said, pointing at the instructions on her copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"I know." Snape continued stirring his cauldron, being a few steps ahead of Lily.

Lily raised her eyebrows at him, but he continued to look at his cauldron.

"It releases the juice better." Snape told her, and then consulted his book.

"Right." Lily held her knife above her Bean, unsure of what to do next. At that moment, Slughorn chose to come over and check on their progress.

"How is my favourite duo getting along, hm?" Slughorn leant over their desk, surveying their work. "Looking very good, Mr Snape, very good indeed. And you Miss Evans, about to cut your Sopophorous Bean I see?"

Lily nodded slowly and proceeded to cut her up her Bean absent mindedly.

As the two continued to work, Slughorn continued to watch them. After a few minutes of this, Snape looked up at Slughorn inquisitively. "Is everything alright, professor?"

"Oh yes," Slughorn chuckled heartily. "Yes, yes." He leaned backwards. "Just lost in thought." After a small pause, he continued. "It's strange, not seeing you two working together in my classes. Whatever it is, don't let it get in the way of your school work, hm? You two do work excellently together." When the two didn't respond, Slughorn sighed. "Anyway, back to work." He returned to circling the classroom.

Lily sighed softly to herself. This was going to be a long two hours.

* * *

**A/N - **So I've been wanting to get it a scene with the Slytherins for a while now - I hope you like it.

Thanks as usual to my lovely reviewers - **MissMaryLiz, **and** Ms D Longbottom **in particular - I love you :)

Please let me know what you think of this chapter - I'm really starting to get back into this again. I'm not going to promise regular updates - but I'll do the best I can.

I love you all,

Poppy x


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